Herman F. Reissig memorandum
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Herman F. Reissig
Biographical History
Herman F. Reissig (1899-1985) was a pastor in the United Church of Christ. During the Spanish Civil War, he was affiliated with the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy, which in 1939 joined forces with the American Medical Bureau to Save Spanish Democracy to form the Spanish Refugee Relief Campaign (SRRC). The SSRC dedicated itself to the rehabilitation and resettlement of Spanish refugees, and Reissig served as its executive secretary. The committee later allied itself with Varian Fry’s Emergency Rescue Committee.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The Herman F. Reissig memorandum was donated anonymously to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1997.
Scope and Content
The Herman F. Reissig memorandum, dated May 15, 1941, describes the SS Alsina’s departure from Marseille in January 1941 carrying more than 500 refugees en route to the United States and Latin America, its detention in Dakar by the Vichy government, Reissig’s unsuccessful efforts to work with the Vichy, British, and American governments to find a solution for the refugees, and cables received from refugees aboard the Alsina describing their confusion and anxiety.
System of Arrangement
The Herman F. Reissig memorandum is arranged as a single series: I. Herman F. Reissig memorandum, 1941
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees.
- Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Refugees.
- World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief.
- Jewish refugees--Europe.
- Refugees--Services for--New York (State)
Genre
- Document